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HAT BINDING. NO. 280,982. Patented July 10, 1883..

UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

DWVIGHT "WHEELER AND DAVID C. W'HEELER, OF BRIDGEPORT, CON

HAT-BINDING.

SPECIFTGATION forming part of Letters Patent 'NO. 280,982, dated July 10, 1883. Application filed January 24 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DWIGHT WHEELER and DAVID 0. WHEELER, of Bridgeport, Fairfield county, Connecticut, have invented Improve- 5 ments in Hat-Bindings, of 'which the following is a specification.

Our invention has for its object to secure bindings to the curved brims of 'hats, and to avoid difficulties incident to ordinary modes of effecting such application.

The two methods of bindingin most general use are, first, sewing the binding upon the brim by a sewing-machine; second, sewing the binding by hand. The first is objectionable because the-manipulation of the hat in order to present the" edge properly to the sewing mechanism breaks or flattens the curl and injures the hats by altering the shape. The line of stitching also weakens the hat, causing it to break readily. The second method, on count of the above-named objections to the first, has become the most common, but is slow, requires skilled labor, and is expensive. To avoid the objections incident to both methods, we have adopted that illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which r Figure 1 represents a wire hoop used in securing the binding; Fig. 2, the combination of the binding and hoop; Fig. 8, the mode of application of the binding and hoop to the hat brim.

, H is the hat-bodyyl the brim, and a the edge curl of the latter which is to be bound.

W'e first'form a hoop, A, of light cheap wire or its equivalent, of such size that it "will lie nicely in the angle formed by the curl with the brim, as shown in Fig. 3, and the binding B is sewedonto this hoop by means of a sewingmachine, one edge of the binding being folded over the hoop and sewed, as shown in Fig. 2;

or the binding may be secured to the wire by what is known as a zigzag stitch, or by an overstitch. The binding and wire are applied with the wire inside of the curl, the binding 45 being then drawn tightly over the curl to the outside, and the edge is brought against and fastened to the hat. By this means the binding is secured quickly and effectively without bending, cutting, or impairing the strength of the hat, and a large proportion of the expense 5o heretofore incurred is avoided.

In that class of hats made with stiff elastic brim wires or springs the binding can be secured to said spring, which thus serves two purposes.

There are hats in which the curl is wider on the side than at the ends, and sometimes it is desirable to have the binding show wider on the side. This may be accomplished by first fastening to the wire some cheap fabric as in dotted lines, Fig. 1, wider on the sides than the ends; then by fastening the binding to the outer edge of this and turning it over on the hat we get the desired results. This is also an economical arrangement, as it can be made so that the whole of the binding will show, while the cheap material will be concealed under the curl.

lVe may cover the entire under trim of a hat in the same manner that we bind a hat to face the brim.

We claim-- v 1. The mode described of applying bindings to hat-brims, consisting in securing one edge vof the binding to a hoop, applying the latter to Witnesses:

L. S. OATLIN, T. M. PALMER, Jr. 

